We will spend time with you and your document to help you decide what kind of service you require. However, to give you an idea, here are the main areas of what we do:
Proofreading
If you are fully satisfied with your script and are only looking to get a final inspection for occasional errors, then you require a proof-reader. This service provides a fresh pair of eyes to read through the script to detect errors and non-standard text that may have been forgotten.
Proof-editing
You may have produced a document, but something still does not feel right. You or your staff may not be able to specify what you need, or exactly what you want.
The document may be a team effort, so no one has looked at it as a whole. Or it may have been done by one person a long time ago.
In such cases, you need more than proofreading.
In proof-editing we explore what is required, and advise you on a plan and schedule accordingly.
Copy-editing
If you have something to say or show, a copy-editor helps you to do that effectively.
We will take your document, whatever it may be, and we will make it ready for your intended use. This could be a book, article, blog, essay, menu, flyer, poster, or even text to put onto clothing.
Copy-editing will ensure that whatever appears in public is fit for purpose, free of errors, flows well, and reaches your audience in the most effective manner.
Copy-editing does the following:
Corrects errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar
Improves style and flow
Standardises the use of italic, bold, capitals, and exclamation marks
Standardises referencing
Pitches the vocabulary, tone, and style at the correct level for the intended audience
Developmental editing
Developmental editing (also known as substantive and structural editing) is required when a document requires substantial and significant changes, and possibly rewrites, in order to make it fit for purpose.
Developmental editing usually performs the tasks of copy-editing as well.
A developmental editor will play an active role in suggesting and initiating changes. For example:
In a heavy edit, sentences will be polished and reworded to improve clarity and flow and to get rid of repetition, clumsy wording, overuse of passive voice, and confused sentence structure
Sections may be rearranged if necessary
Subheadings and chapter titles may be reworked to make them catchier, funnier, or more dramatic
Clarify the goals and objectives of the author, and help them to identify their audience
Ultimately, the developmental editor’s job is to help the author deliver clear and coherent writing to the intended audience.
A developmental editor can be consulted before the writing begins, or can be brought in to help a document that has already started, or that has ended.
Content-editing
We recognise and respect that our clients are experts in their own field, and have their own views and opinions which they wish to express in their documents.
We will never attempt to alter any matters of content or subject matter.
